Pumpkins

Pumpkins

Ellen's

Steph's

Brian's

Bick's

Cheech & The Redneck

The Redneck


"You heard about the legend Jesse James,
John Henry just to mention some names
But there's a truck drivin' legend in SoCal today
A man called Bandit from Ventuckey C-A."

"Every gear jammer knows his name
They swear he got icewater runnin' in his veins
Foot like lead, and nerves like steel
He's gonna go to glory ridin' 18 wheels!"

The Cheech

I trade you a chicken for yer sister sen-yor?

Ay de mio sen-yor, what you mean INS?

Hem

Papa Hemingway

Matt Costa & Surf Porn

One Track Mind Movie Premiere

Patagonia HQ Parking Lot
Thursday Oct. 16th
Ventura, Calif.


Checked out the premier of One Track Mind, the newest film from Chris Malloy and Woodshed Films. Kelly Slater and the entire Malloy clan was there to introduce the flick. Seeing Slater up close and in person, he is a lot shorter then I thought. I could totally take him. Okay kidding really, just kidding Kelly, please dont hurt me... For those of you that couldn't make it to the Ventuckey, the movie is also premiering live and online via FaceBook. Gotta love this new techni-blo-logical world.

Although I make for a much better buoy then a real surfer, I do definately appreciate a good indie film. I am very interested by the various idiosyncrasies of surf culture today-- stuff like tradition Polynesian values and the mahalo vibe and how they intersect with the violence and commercialism of present day surf culture. Most traditional surf movies are really just porn with big waves and tanned riders. (Surf porn = lots of action, no plot, cheesy soundtrack, no real climax, rinse, repeat for duration of movie; see also climbing porn, skiing porn, or just plain porn porn) I had high hopes the Woodshed guys would break out from the norm and weave more of a structured narrative. In the end they came close-- a little narrative mixed in with lots of porn-esque sequences. The crowd totally ate it up.

The movie was great but for me the highlite was hanging out in a dark corner of the parking lot to listen to Matt Costa jam out. It was a ton of fun. He started w/ some pretty laid back new tunes he has been working on. Every now and again he would belt out a crowd favorite. It was super intimate and super fun. Admittedly I was a little jealous, Sara got to play the broom with him. Yup a broom, a push broom and she totally rocked out on that broom! It was best tub-thumping tummy rubbing tent revival broom playin' I've ever heard this side of the old muddy Wabbash! Aftwards we chatted Matty boy up for a bit under the spattering mercury vapor street lights as the moon gently rose over the Iron Works. Cool, yah very...


The Old Iron Works hanging ten-ish.


"Feel uneasy, I think of you less
My mind is so restless and I'm feeling depressed
Oh my, oh my, to see you with that spy
You lie, but I know cause I've got cigarette eyes."


"Your surprises wear disguises
All of your truths masquerade around on Hallow's Eve
So I'll never know what you show to unfamiliar faces..."


Dance with a stranger. Do it at least once a day.


"All the stars point me to you and lately they just drive me crazy
A universe can be so cruel so baby, baby be my lady..."


"I'm standing out here all alone
I need someone to take me home
She was standing next to me
There's room for you and room for me."

USC

USC vs. Arizona State
The LA Coliseum
Saturday Oct. 11th, 2008
Los Angeles, Calif.




The Band

Tommy Trojan

Fight On!

ALCS

ALCS Game 1

Friday Oct. 10th
Sonny McClean's Irish Pub
Santa Monica, Calif. 2008


The left coast version of where everybody knows your name.


The '75 Sawx.


Native Son (the beard gives it away).


Pap & Big Papi.


Sammy A.

Bottom of the sixth, Boston up 2- nil and holding my breath as Dice-K comes back to pitch another inning.

"Kiss me I'm drunk!"

Red Sox win! Red Sox win!

Four down, seven to go!

Puppers

Puppers

I've wanted a dog for the longest time now-- and not just any dog but a real man's dog you know. Now I have three. Well okay 2 and a half if you are really counting. And yes I suppose they are not technically mine. I am more like the crazy uncle you had as a kid. You know the one you would be super excited to see at family get-togethers. The one that was really really loud and made all the other grown-ups grin nervously. The one that would take you out back and tell you stories that your parents would never approve of. The one that always was drinking something out of a brown paper bag with a twinkle in his eye. Yah that one. I am kinda like the crazy uncle to the dogs. I can play w/ 'em, sneak them snacks, and get them all riled up and then leave their humans to clean up the mess. Definitely the crazy uncle, yup me...

Kaia, Boxer (Aaron's)-- I was sitting on the floor tonight watching TV and trying to eat a plate of curried pork with an apple jalapeno chutney when I dribbled a bit on my chest. Oops right. No worries, Kaia was there in a flash and licked my shirt clean. Granted I was still wearing it at the time which was kind of awkward. But regardless, man what a life! Think how much further we could reduce our carbon foot print if we all had dogs. No more paper towels and totally hands free. Save the planet, get a pupper.

Sadie, Golden (Michelle's)-- When I was a kid we had family friends with a chubby Golden named Sadie. We adored her. She definately left an early lasting impression on me. She is one of the first dogs I can remember from childhood and I remember her fondly. In high school I dated a cute Irish girl named Sadie. She had these big brown watery eyes. Every time I heard her name or saw those big brown eyes I would giggle. She shared her name with a dog. I might have dated her just slightly in part because she shared her name with this much loved pupper. To make a long story short, the relationship didn't last long.

Avenue Portraits

Avenue Portraits

There was a little break in the rain. I had to get out of the house. I was climbing the walls. I went down to the Avenue w/ Bick and took some foolish portraits. Fun was had.

"I'm sorry beware of what? What do you mean 'behind me'?"

Unabomber

Barbed.

As-salam alaikum.

"Whatchyou talkin' 'bout sucah!"

Rule of thirds.

Main Street, Ramadi.

ALDS

ALDS Game 1

Went down to Anaheim, heard there was a baseball game going on. Red Sox win 4-1. One down, ten to go! World Series here we come...

$10 watered down American beer, yummm-- at least it comes in cups made out of corn so when we spend all our money on this crap and get hungry we can eat the cup. Tastes like chicken I hear...

Our $6 "extreme dogs", sure aint no Fenway Frank!

Drinka. Dranka. Drunka.

Opening ceremonies.

Crapola! Lester gives up a one out single to in the 3rd-- Angels up 1- 0 early in the game.

Surrounded.

Intermission

Intermission

We are taking a little break from the car living situation for the next few weeks. The goal is to be able to take a step back (and take regular showers) reassess and then move forward again accordingly. As of right now I have over 5,000 still photographs, almost 30 hours of uncut video tape, and a little over 100 pages of journalings and voice overs. Admittedly I am getting little buried under by all the raw material. It is difficult to remember everything I have shot and keep everything organized working out of the trunk of my car. Before the weather turns and the days grow shorter I want to be able to re-shoot different aspects that may have not turned out according to plan before I get too far ahead of myself.

As we head into the holidays and winter months, I want to take advantage of the lull during the change of seasons to get a good idea of what I have already. In compiling and editing everything I can really take a hard look at the story and how it has been evolving since February. Then with a little luck I'll have a better idea of how best to proceed. The goal is to edit for 6- 7 weeks, most of which will probably be just logging & capturing-- 30 hours is going to take forever! Then right before Thanksgiving the idea is to get back into the car and finish out the year. We will see how that works. I am very interested to learn and experience how folks in similar situations will handle the holidays and the up-coming winter months. No worries, I just got my long johns back from the wash.